Butter-receptacle.



ALBERT F. THAYER, OF MAPLEHILL, KANSAS.

BUTTER-RECEPTACLE.

Specification of Letters Patent,

:atented July 25, 1905.

Application filed December 27, 1904-. Serial No. 238,364.

To r/.ZZl whom, tm/ay concern;

Be it known that l, ALBERT F. THAYER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Maplehill, in the county of Vabaunsee and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful lmprovement in Butter-Receptacles, of which the following is a specification.

lt is a well-known fact that butter kept in an absolutely air-tight package or receptacle will remain pure and sweet for practically an indefinite time; but if it is exposed to the air it will quickly spoil and become rancid. The best method up to the present time, as far as l am aware, for preserving butter is to pack it in an air-tight jar and afterward pour a salt brine into the jar, which covers and practically surrounds the butter, allowing the air in the jar or in the butter to escape through the brine, but preventing the external air from entering the jar. This makes practically an air-tight package which is easily cleaned, and thereby kept sweet, and which can be used a great many times. objection to butter-jars as now constructed is that after the butter has been packed therein it hardens, contracts, and becomes separated from the sides and bottoni of the jar. After such separation it rises and floats to the top of the brine that has been surrounding it, and thereby becomes exposed to the air and quickly spoils` Under such circumstances it has been deemed necessary in order to keepthe butter palatable to hold it below the surface of the brine by means of heavy stones or weights; but this weighting is uncertain in its results, inasmuch as the weights often slip to one side and permit the butter to rise to the surface of the brine and float, and thus become spoiled. It is the object of this invention to overcome this difficulty by providing a jar which so constructed that the butter will be anchored or held at or near the bottom of the jar without the employment of weights and be thus eflectually prevented from rising or floating and becoming exposed to the external air.

The nature of the invention is fully described below, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a butterjar embodying my invention or improvement. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken through the grooves, which are below described.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A serious a represents the sides or wall, and b the bottom, of a butter-jar of the ordinary general shape, made of pottery or of any other suitable material.

e e represent grooves or recesses located in the inner surface of the wall a of the jar near the bottom. The grooves illustrated in the drawings are horizontal, of a depth which is about one-half the depth of the thickness of the wall of the jar and opposite each other. The depth, however, of the grooves may vary, as desired, may or may not be even throughout, and, in fact, the grooves may be of any size or shape which will produce the desired result. Moreover, there may be many forms of recesses, cavities, or grooves which would operate approximately as well as those illustrated in the drawings.

ln operation when the butter is packed in the jar it is pressed into these grooves or recesses, thus increasing the diameter of the butter at that point, so that it is efficiently anchored or locked in position at/or near the bottom of the jar and cannot rise or float and is thereby kept perfectly sweet, making it possible for the butter to be removed from the jar through the brine without the exposure of any portion of the mass of butter to the air.

Itis evident that the number of grooves or recesses may be greater or less than those illustrated and that they may be located higher or a little lower than as shown in the drawings. As at present advised l consider the number, shape, and location of the grooves or recesses to be perfectly efficient and, perhaps, on the whole preferable to any other number, shape, or location, but l do not conne myself to any particular number, shape, or location of grooves or recesses further than that they must be of such a shape on the inner surface of the wall to engage the butter and prevent it from rising and floating.

Having thus fully described my invention, what l claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isE

1. A butter-receptacle provided on the inner surface of its sides or wall with one or more recesses or cavities, whereby as the butter is packed in the receptacle it is pressed into said recesses or cavities and is thereby locked or retained in position, for the purpose set forth.

2. A butter-receptacle provided on the inner surface of its sides or wall with one or more recesses or cavities located near the bottoni. of the receptacle, whereby as the butter is packed in the receptacle it is pressed into said recesses or cavities and is thereby locked or retained in position, for the purpose set forth.

3. A butter-receptacle provided on the inner surface of its sides or wall with one or more groove -shaped recesses or cavities, whereby as the butter is packed` in the recoptacle it is pressed into said groove-shaped recesses or cavities and thereby locked or retained in position, for the purpose set forth.

el.. A butter-receptacle provided on the inner surface of its sides or wall with one or rnore horizontal` grooves, whereby as the butter is packed in the receptacle it is pressed intosaid groove or grooves and therebylocked or retained in position, for the purpose set forth.

A butter-receptacle provided on the inner surface of its sides or wall with one or more horizontal grooves located near the bottoni of the receptacle, whereby as the butter is packed in the receptacle it is pressed into said groove or grooves and thereby locked or retained in position, Vfor the purpose set forth.

6. A butter-receptacle provided on the inner surface o'f its sides or wall with opposite horizontal grooves, whereby as the butter is packed in the receptacle it is pressed into said grooves and thereby locked or retained in position, for the purpose set forth.

ln testimony whereof l have signed my nanie to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT F. THAYER.

Witnesses VALTER HAMILTON, CnAnLEs E. MENARD. 

